This Is Heaven

Yeah for good karma! Yeah for stopping when my gut said so and missing the wrath of Arthur. Yeah finding the cracks between the clouds and for getting to Fredericton with no more than a bit of spray. Yeah for finding a campground with sympathetic owners who allowed me to stay though their campground was closed. Yeah for meeting up with a young rider on his way to Newfoundland who ended up in the same campground and who was great company in a disaster area. Yeah for finding one gas station with power and gas when I was running on fumes and for it being just 1.26 per litre. And yeah for a calm bridge crossing, an open campground and a hot shower at the end of a long two days.

 

 

I complained a bit in the last post that the wind had died down after I’d stopped and that I might have made it to Fredericton if I had kept going. Well, it was good karma that I stopped according to the campground employee (we introduced ourselves but I can’t remember his name.) The wind died down in Montmagny just about the time the full force of what was left of Arthur hit the Fredericton area. The locals battled waist high waters being blown over 16 feet high from the river to rescue as many camp trailers as they could at the campground. Everywhere large trees were ripped from the ground by the force of Arthur. The area was left without power. Tourists and locals alike were stranded without gasoline to continue, most stations having no hydro to pump the fuel and those few with power quickly ran out of fuel to pump.

 

 

The sun was shining bright this morning by 5. It woke me enough to realize Big Agnes had sadly, mostly deflated. I puffed some more air into her and decided to try and get a few minutes of comfort before getting up. By the time I dragged my sorry butt out of my snug little sleeping bag young Chris had already, stealthily, broken camp and was ready to head out. I was glad I got the chance to have a goodbye hug and wish him well on his first long distance trip.

 

 

Chris and I met up by chance at a Tim Horton’s. Well, we didn’t exactly meet at the Tim’s, we passed in the doorway and said hello. I drank part of my cappuccino, or so Tim Horton’s calls it and hit the highway, with him right behind.  120 k later I needed a body break and spotted a roadside gas station, I signaled to turn and looked in the rear view to see the red sport bike signalling as well. What’s with this kid I thought? Why the hell didn’t he blast past me an hour ago? Turns out he liked that I was doing the speed limit +/- 10 and thought if he followed he’d avoid a speeding ticket (or so he said. I really think he thought, ‘This old lady needs somebody to look out for her.’)  He rode into the station on fumes, in a lineup that went back down the highway ramp. We had no idea the area had been hit so hard. We introduced ourselves and found out we were headed the same way. He filled up. I tried to top up but they ran out of gas. I knew I could do at least another 120 k so decided to head out. Chris said he’d follow. 130 k later we rolled into a campground enveloped with yellow caution tape, by this time I was running on fumes. The gas stations were all closed. The campground attendant came out to tell us the campground was closed. I simply said, “I’ve got no gas, I can’t go any further.” She said, “Well, we’ve got no services but if you don’t care, you can pitch your tents on the high side.” I asked, “Do you have a bathroom? She said, “Yes.” I said …”This is heaven”

 

 

It rained a bit last night, but it didn’t matter, I wasn’t riding. The sun shone this morning. I’m in PEI now. I’ve set up camp, I have wifi and a campfire, it may rain tomorrow (and the next day and the next day) but right now …. This is heaven.

 

Watch for Chris, he's going to start a moto-vlog when he gets back.